Inheritor of the Sandaime
by Wolka
Summary: The problem with prophecies is their vague nature and that they should always be taken with a grain of salt. Too bad no one told Jiraiya and Minato that when they made the biggest decision of Minato's children's lives. Moderate Language.
1. A Fresh Start

**A Fresh Start**

* * *

**A.N: This is a bit different I hope from my other story, Hopefully its not too cliched. My other story will remain my main focus, but I wanted to do this one long before I started NOTH.** **So I will work on this too, although at a slower rate. NOTH should be updated later this week for all those interested. **

**I don't own Naruto  
**

* * *

Namikaze Naruto was a very intelligent boy, who in other circumstances would have been hailed as the next generation of Konohan Shinobi genius. That fact was something anyone would have been able to tell you, had anyone wanted to spend time with him. However the bright future that he may have had in his home village was prevented by the simple fact that he was chosen to carry the hate that was leveled at the Jinchūriki twins, even worse, his own father had made it so. His father Minato the fourth Hokage had claimed that in time he would see that it was for the best and the village would be stronger because of it, However all Naruto had seen was he was hated as a demon because he contained the conscience of the Kyuubi and not even one tail of its chakra, while his sister contained the rest, she was a hero while he was hated, and what made it worse was his father encouraged this, hell even his mother though it was a good idea as it ensured that Mitsuko would become great, and unfortunately her brother would have to become a footnote in history.

However if there was one defining aspect of his personality it was Naruto's determination, and in this case he was determined to escape and show this village, one day just what they had lost when they had chosen his idiot sister instead of him.

XXX

It was night and Naruto was hidden under a tarpaulin that covered a shipment of good's to Suna, the village hidden in the sand, Naruto had little reason to choose this caravan above the others was that it was simply the most convenient. Slowly it began moving and eventually it reached the gate. Naruto attempted to hide himself even more, knowing that it was here that he ran the greatest risk of discovery. Suddenly the canvass that covered him and a black haired boy who couldn't be older than eleven stared into the wagon, his eyes glowing red, Naruto recognised them as the Sharingan, or copy eyes of the most powerful of the clans, The Uchiha. Naruto inwardly groaned, his bid for freedom was over before it had even begun, he looked at the eyes that bored into his very being, after what seemed like an eternity but could not have been more than a couple of seconds the Uchiha turned and covered the wagon again, Naruto barely heard the whispered,

"Good luck, may you find the release that I never could."

Naruto frowned at the words and would consider them for the next six days as he continued to be an unknown passenger, he never found an answer for the questions that the Uchiha had provoked with that single statement, and the words would continue to haunt him for many years to come.

XXX

The consciousness of what had once been the Nine tailed Biju floated within its prison, wondering what the hell it was going to do now, its power was never coming back, and eventually a new Kyuubi would emerge from the mass of Chakra that was housed within that blonde idiots daughter. Now here it was bound within its host, a human it found the most bearable out of the people it had been housed in, mostly because it wasn't yelling about God damned Ramen or looking at the tree hugger continuously. It was an existence it was somewhat content with. That was up until he realised that his host was leaving the village, which meant another Biju and while his power may be gone, the sentient chakra's sense of self-preservation was not and so it was that what had once been a force of nature waited for its host to sleep so they could work out just what the hell they were going to do.

XXX

Minato Namikaze was not a bad man, if you asked anyone in Konoha they would excitably tell you what a great man he was. Admittedly if you asked someone from Iwa or his son the answer would be different but you can't please everyone. It was his Son that had him sitting at his desk at this moment, he hadn't returned from whatever he went to do, although he hadn't had any reports from the hospital to say he had been beaten again, so he'd turn up at some point Minato was sure. It was a tricky subject the matter of his son, but the fact of the matter was his daughter was the child of prophecy, Jiraiya-sensei had said so and in order to get her to her best one of the children had to carry the usual Jinchūriki burden. It was easy to make a decision about that and one day when the world was at peace, civilians like Naruto would thank his daughter for the peace she had bought, for he was in no way planning on making his son a Shinobi that might undermine Mitsuko's position and that could not be allowed no matter what Kakashi and the Sandaime wanted. Content with his decision and confident that one day Naruto would accept and see the wisdom in it he made to leave, after all these things always work out for the best right?

XXX

Naruto finally drifted off to sleep, around two hours after the scare with the Uchiha, he woke to find himself in a sewer, "This is odd." He said, his voice bouncing off the walls of the massive underground complex, shrugging he began to make his way through it assuming that answers would become apparent when he found someone or something to answer his questions. Finally making his way to the room's center he was shocked to see a large cage with a strange seal, which upon closer examination he realised was the one used to split and seal the Kyuubi into his sister and himself. "So you bought me here?" he asked the seemingly empty room.

"**Perceptive ningen, clearly you are indeed the more intelligent one; your sister from what I have seen seems to be incapable of higher though processes."**

"I assume you want something then Kyuubi?"

"**You are correct, I wish to know where we are going, admittedly Konoha holds few good memories for me, having spent the better part of sixty years there, but there are many other places that could be worse."**

"The caravan is going to Suna, the sand village, its small and they need Shinobi recruits, I figured I'd have a better chance there than anywhere else."

"**True, but the problem there is they will be cautious due to you being an outsider, if you had one of those Kekkei Genkai then they would welcome you with open arms. Hmm it's the Shukaku's domain as well, although it's the weakest, it could easily kill us." **The faint outline of a fox that could be seen behind the bars seemed to be deep in thought, seeming to come to a conclusion it looked directly at the boy who contained it, "**There is an answer, when I was contained in your mother, I heard stories of a man who could control iron sand as a result of his bloodline, this was used to control the Shukaku when it's host lost control, much like you sister will do so when that Chakra in her begins to develop a sense of self, I have no wish to die and yet you and I find ourselves in a unique position. I will ensure you get this magnet bloodline to protect us and I will guide you at various points seeing as I have much more experience than you with the world. Are we in agreement?"**

Naruto looked at the fox, even he could see that it was weak and what it was offering was a way to ensure that he became a Shinobi and survived, he would be a fool not to take the offer.

Turning to the cage he spoke the words that would alter his life from that point forward and ensure that Minato Namikaze's plans all fell apart. "I accept." The fox smiled a sickly grin that showed its teeth, its eyes glowed red as the last of the chakra it had begun to swirl around it. "**Very well, I will contact you when I am done, it will take several days, and your journey will likely be at an end before this is ready." **Naruto nodded and turned to leave, his figure fading from the former Biju's sight. The fox let out a growl, it wasn't what he wanted but this was better than nothing, and who knows? It was a better deal than his Chakra would be getting, plus a chance to catch up with Shukaku wouldn't be too bad, they hadn't seen each other since the day the Sage of Six paths had created them.

XXX

The Yondaime Kazekage frowned as he thought about his son Gaara, it was clear that what he had done was not in the villages interest and now his six year old son was killing everyone who looked at him sideways, Shinobi or civilian. Not for the first time he wished he could go back and change how he had done things, Gaara's value to the village had decreased severally because of his own actions. The other issue was that none of his children carried the Magnet release bloodline, one of the few that Suna actually possessed, it didn't bode well. Especially with Gaara listening to the Shukaku more and more, He sighed. Hopefully he would have the answer soon; he didn't know what the hell he was going to do with the current cuts to the village finances. Looking out into the desert he could only pray to God that something would come that could turn his village's luck around.

XXX

Five days later found Naruto wandering around the village of Sunagakure no Sato, wondering what to do now, he supposed his best bet was to go and see the Kazekage but he had no idea how to do that unless the bloodline the Kyuubi was talking about showed itself, something was definitely happening, he could tell that, his body felt different but there weren't any flying Kunai so he assumed the fox was still working on it. He absently kicked a stone. He hated having nothing to do, if you had nothing to do, then you were exposed to the loneliness. Looking around he noticed he had come to a field, like the ones that he was chased away from back in Konoha, he laughed mirthlessly, the only time he came to a field he was allowed on and there as no one here. Looking around he was shocked to see that there was another kid here, one who was kicking a ball around with what looked like sand following him around. Intrigued Naruto walked towards the child, wondering if he had finally found someone who was alone like himself.

Gaara watched the strange boy approach, the sand was behaving oddly, rather than feeling angry at the person coming towards them it felt calm, even mother had stopped shouting and seemed to be waiting for something so Gaara decided to wait too, Mother would know what to do once he came close enough. When the boy approached, he felt a surge of recognition from Mother, like he had always known the blond, whisker marked boy in front of him. Looking at him and feeling no urge to kill him Gaara broke the silence by asking "Do you want to play?" he flinched waiting for the boy to run away because of his sand like everyone else.

Naruto looked at the boy with facial markings like him but different. When the question came he was shocked, no one ever asked him to play with them, usually they ran away screaming and his mother would tell him he wasn't allowed any friends because his sister had to fulfill the prophecy some old toad had made. Recovering from the shock of the question he looked at the boys eyes and once again was shocked, '_He knows the pain of loneliness he thought'_.

"Sure I'll play he answered, outwardly he showed nothing, but inwardly he was ecstatic about finding someone who actually wanted to spend time with him. The boy looked at him and said

"You're not scared of my sand? Everyone else is."

"No," Naruto said, "why would I, it's cool." Gaara upon hearing this was confused, no one had ever said his sand was cool; usually they just screamed and ran away calling him a demon. Deciding to not worry about it as this guy thought his sand was cool, Gaara kicked the ball towards him and soon the ball was being passed quickly between the two six year olds, neither of them paying attention to anything beyond the ball and their new friend.

XXX

"Kazekage-sama, you're not going to believe this!" The Kazekage frowned as he looked up and saw Baki, one of his better Jonin run into the room. "What is it Baki?" he asked already dreading the answer, knowing that Baki was the one assigned to watch Gaara today. "Gaara seems to have made a friend." That stopped the village leader cold. Looking at Baki he could only ask "Pardon?"

"Uhh well, Gaara was sitting at the northern field you see with a ball, and this blonde kid turns up and he walked over to Gaara and the sand does nothing, so we watch and they talk for a bit and then they start playing with the ball together, like its nothing unusual."

The Kazekage stared at the man for a moment before he collected his thoughts, standing up he grabbed his robes from the chair next to him and after throwing them over his clothes he gestured for Baki to follow, "Come I need to meet this child for myself, he may be of value if he can calm Gaara down." Privately he wondered if this was the answer to at least one of his problems.

XXX

Loathe as Naruto was to admit it he was having the most fun he had ever had in his short life convincing him that leaving the village of his birth was in fact the cleverest thing he had ever done. However the game was interrupted with the arrival of a Suna Shinobi who called his new friend Gaara among other things a monster and a demon and attempted to kill him with a number of thrown Kunai, the sand around Gaara rapidly formed a protective ball, while Naruto unwilling to let his new friend be killed stuck his hand out and willed the iron Kunai to stop. And it was this scene that the Kazekage and Baki walked in on.

The Kazekage was shocked at the sight before him, not so much the Jonin trying to kill his son, but at the fact said son appeared to have made a friend, and said friend seemed to share the same Kekkei Genkai that he himself possessed. Baki quickly dealt with the Jonin trying, '_Rather pathetically_' he thought to kill Gaara while the Kazekage himself rushed the two boys off to his office, all the while thinking that God must have heard his prayer and sent him this godsend of a child.

XXX

The Kyuubi relaxed, it had only just finished implementing the bloodline when the older Ningen had attacked his Ningen and the Shukaku brat, although he had never seen that protective doom of sand before he supposed that Shukaku would have come up with new techniques in the intervening years. He recognised the robes of the Kazekage and after that little display the man would be interested, The Kyuubi could only hope he wasn't going to regret this and with that thought it began the final process, melding itself into the mind of its holder, things were about to get interesting were the beasts final thoughts as an independent being from Naruto Namikaze.

XXX

The Kazekage sat the two boys down in front of his desk, impressed that Gaara seemed to be able to remain in control, while this boy was present; he would have to ascertain if this child had any value beyond that. He studied his son's new friend, Whisker marks, blond hair and blue eyes that looked surprisingly like a man who he had met with only a year earlier. With a sinking feeling in his stomach he realised who had befriended his son and likely why they got on so well. "Who are you?" he demanded, already knowing the answer

"Naruto Namikaze." He sighed; he knew it was too good to be true. "What is the Hokage's son and Jinchūriki of Konoha on top of that doing in my village?"

"I ran away, and I'm not the Jinchūriki, at least not in the true sense of the word, my sister holds the Chakra." He was thrown at that.

"What?"

"My father," he took note at the loathing and hatred in the boys voice as he said that, "Sealed the consciousness of the Kyuubi along with a minimal amount of Chakra into me while my sister was sealed with the rest, the intention was to have me live the usual life of the Jinchūriki while my sister, lived the life of a hero. I was unwilling to do that, especially when he forbade me from becoming a Shinobi so I left, and came here." The Kazekage nodded it made sense to an extent, he recalled what people had said about the boy, even his own father and mother. He may be a cruel man but even he had never said he hated Gaara.

"How did you stop the Kunai earlier?" this was the second question, it would not do to hear that the Namikaze were gaining the power of the Magnet release as well. The boy frowned, almost like he was talking to somebody; mind you he did say he had the consciousness of the Kyuubi within him, in al likelihood the child was talking to the beast itself.

"The Kyuubi and I have no wish to die, upon discovering I was heading to Suna, it decided that I needed something to combat the Shukaku, it gave me a Kekkei Genkai it had heard was used to control it when it broke out of its host. It was my hope that with this as well as the fact that I now have something of immunity to Genjutsu that I would be accepted for the villages Shinobi programme."

The Kazekage studied the boy in front of him, clearly there was no love lost between him and the village he had called home, he possessed an ability that had the potential to put him on par with the Third Kazekage and himself, on top of that he could be partnered with Gaara to ensure that his son didn't kill everyone he met. In the end, he solved far too many of the Villages problems to refuse the boy. "Fine, you will be staying with Gaara and my other children, none of them possess the magnet based powers you and I do so you will be joining our family, blonde hair, isn't unheard of so I will claim that you are a cousin of some sort. _'and i'll be able to keep an eye on you.'_ he added. Those whisker marks give you away however, are you willing to have them removed?"

"These?" the boy gestured to the marks on his cheeks, at the man's nod he snorted, "Please, they tie me to my former family, I'm more than willing to have them gotten rid of." The Kage nodded again, inordinately happy with the answer.

"Very well, Gaara take him to the house, inform everyone that Naruto will be joining us as a member of the house hold, send Baki in as you go we need to discuss certain things." Gaara nodded and the two boys rose, leaving the room, a few seconds Baki walked in and took a seat. "What do you think?" Baki didn't need to ask his Kage what he was talking about, "He could be a huge benefit to the village, he ensures that there is a magnet user in this generation and as well as that we can partner him with Gaara to restrain the Shukaku, on top of that, the kids clearly smart and if we give him a home and train him he should be thankful." He finished speaking and looked at his commander awaiting the replay.

"Yes, it seems that this would be for the best, he hates the Hokage with a passion, and he has provided valuable information about the identity of Konoha's Jinchūriki, something they have kept hidden for a long time, on top of that it seems that Gaara is calm around him as befits our ultimate weapon, we can keep the boy close to ensure that he can cover for when I am not around. Yes I believe that this is for the best, he will be a valuable addition to the village." Baki nodded, "I want them to be trained, and perhaps it is time that the Iron Sand rose again from the desert."

"You would trust the boy with that?" Baki gasped out, shocked that his leader would consider such a thing.

"Not immediately, but if his loyalty to the village can be proven then there is no reason to keep it from him. There is no point in keeping my father's techniques locked up and he has the potential to surpass me in the use of the Kekkei Genkai, Yes I think this will be for the best, see that they begin training, Temari should begin as well and Kankuro can begin to learn puppetry, he's shown an interest, the next generation needs to be strong enough to ensure the villages survival, and those four will be the ones to lead it, I can feel it." Baki nodded and dismissed himself allowing his leader to look out over his village and think for the first time in a long time that the Village would be in safe hands when he passed on.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_Meanwhile in Konohagakure no Sato_

While Naruto formerly Namikaze negotiated his place within Suna, his father was wondering where the hell his idiot son had gone. The general unwillingness of the population to search for him however meant that there was no real attempt to find him and Minato was left to conclude that he was dead in a ditch somewhere, no real loss. Kushina was in fact quite happy with this turn of events, now she could focus entirely on her daughter while not feeling guilty at all. The sad thing was there were only three people in the entire village who were sad that he was gone, the eleven year old Uchiha Itachi who had recognised the child as someone who was incredibly similar to him and mourned the loss of a prodigy to another village, Kakashi Hatake who had found the boy to be reasonably intelligent and would have made a good Shinobi, and the Third who had never approved of his student and successors actions regarding the boy. Although upset, they were forced to accept the fact that the boy had no reason to return to Konoha, which had fallen far from the ideals that the Third's sensei's had wanted and was no doubt happier where ever he was.

XXXX

_Six years later_

five figures made their way towards the great gates of Konoha, the Chunin on duty taking note of the figure approaching and trying to identify them, the first was wearing what appeared to be a cat suit, with paint or make-up on his face with something wrapped in bandages on his back, this was in sharp contrast to the girl with her hair in four pig tails and a large fan on her back, the group was rounded up by the final three, a man with half his face veiled, quickly recognised as Baki the Jonin commander of Suna and two boys, one of which was red haired and had a large gourd strapped across his back and the kanji for love on his head, while the other was dressed in a large grey robe, with a thick neck of what looked like fur, with his shoulder length blonde spikey hair held back by a Suna Hitai-ate and a bored expression showing through his cold blue eyes as he gazed at the village beyond them. Baki made his way towards the guards and presented the identification papers,

"Jonin Baki and teams Suna teams one and two here for the Chunin exams in a week." The guards looked at the information and seeing nothing out of the ordinary waved them through.

"Your hotel is about five hundred meters in." the guard added.

"Thank you." the male blonde spoke as he walked past, the others falling in behind him and the red head.

"Odd sort, don't you think?" one of the guards asked his companion,

"They live in the freaken desert, their brains must be cooked, did you see the dude in the cat suit? I mean what the hell."

"One of them looked a bit like Hokage-sama."

"Nah, just a coincidence, there are a few blondes in Suna, it's just a coincidence."

"Yeah why would Hokage-samas kid be a Suna nin? Hahaha what a joke." And so Naruto Namikaze returned to his birth village with no one any the wiser. As the group made its way down the busy streets, Naruto whispered something that only Gaara and Temari caught,

"Hello Konoha, did you miss me?"

XXXX

It was official; Kakashi hated his team. Not for the last time he wished Naruto had stayed in the village, just so he could have taken the kid as an apprentice and had nothing to do with the brats he had been saddled with. Sasuke Uchiha, sat and brooded and no doubt plotted to kill Itachi, someone who was so far out of his league and would continue to be so simply because Sasuke lacked the ability to surpass a genius like his brother, Kakashi couldn't imagine a situation where Sasuke didn't die in the confrontation, unless he somehow managed to come upon Itachi in his sleep. Sakura Haruno was a fan girl, with minimal reserves and whose primary motivation in life was to marry a very clearly not interested Sasuke. And then there was Mitsuko Namikaze, the real Jinchūriki of the village and dead last of her graduating class at the academy, this amused the masked Jonin to no end. It wasn't that she didn't have talent, because she did, it was just she seemed convinced the Kyuubi Chakra would save her, despite spending six years trying and failing to access it. And failing that she was the daughter of the Yellow flash, no one would dare harm her, despite Haku Yuki making short work of her in their last mission. All of them had failed to learn anything from the last mission and so Kakashi had decided to enter them in the Chunin exams, an action supported heavily by the Hokage although for different reasons, namely to show the world Mitsuko as a future leader of the leaf. The truth was the girl was an idiot who lacked focus and was convinced of her own superiority, as well as a lack of knowledge in all areas of Shinobi skills.

Still the Chunin exam's would show them what they were up against, as loathe as he was to admit it he was hoping that Gai's team would show them how much effort they needed to put it in. He finished handing out the forms and then left, he didn't want to spend any more time with the brats than he had to, the truth was Sasuke was the best of them and he would have rather done Gai's challenges for a day than spend more time than he had to with Sasuke. As he walked away he heard the Sandaime's Grandson Konohamaru insult Mitsuko, the kid hated the Hokage's daughter and made no secret of it, she turned to chase him and he ran off, Mitsuko in hot pursuit while Sakura followed Sasuke who had followed Mitsuko. Kakashi sighed and went to go and talk to Obito; at least he was pleasant to be around.

XXX

After dropping their stuff off the sand siblings and Naruto left to do the various tasks they needed to do before the exams began. And so it was that Naruto and Gaara left to go and buy some Kunai for Naruto to grind up to make more sand. They then found themselves at an intersection; Naruto was nearly bowled over when a little kid with a too long scarf ran into him. Frowning he grabbed the boy and picked him up just as a blonde girl appeared, whisker marks marking her face, Naruto's frown deepened when he saw his former sister, while Temari who had appeared with Kankuro from wherever they had gone had to stifle a gasp.

"Oi you," her voice was irritating, and grated on his ears, "Give me the brat he needs to be punished for insulting the Hokage's daughter."

"So you beat up eight year olds?" Naruto managed to ask pleasantly although inside he was seething, while the voice of the Kyuubi was hoping like hell that his old chakra wouldn't recognise his presence, it didn't thankfully.

"He insulted me, he needs to be punished." She said again, clearly not used to getting her way, Temari and Kankuro were staring at her now, clearly shocked at her behavior, another girl, this one pink haired had appeared and was asking about someone called Sasuke-kun, while the kid in Naruto's hands was yelling at Mitsuko. Finally everyone calmed down and noticed the Suna headbands, which led to another round of questions, at which point 'Sasuke-kun' appeared and was revealed to be the 'Last Uchiha', which translated to another spoilt brat. After realising that she would not be getting the kid to 'punish' Mitsuko walked off at which point Naruto had lost interest and just wanted to go back to his room. Gaara made one of his usual creepy comments, shocking Sasuke and his fan girl before they too left. When the street was quiet Naruto turned to the kid and said,

"Come on, we'll walk you back to your home." The kid, who was called Konohamaru he learnt nodded and lead them towards his grandfather's house who was they learnt the Sandaime, Naruto smiled a bit at this pleased he had helped the grandson of one of the few people who treated him like a human when he had lived here. "So are all your Genin, like that?" Temari asked as they made their way through the village, "Nah, most are pretty good, that team's called the Brat team by some of the other Jonin, everyone feels sorry for Kakashi for being their Sensei." Naruto snorted at that and Kankuro laughed outright. They made their way to the Sarutobi compound and bidding the boy good bye they turned and walked by to the hotel, Gaara speaking for all of them when he stated that, "The leaf Genin offer little to validate my existence with." Naruto could only nod at that, wondering just what the hell the academy taught if they allowed people like the ones he had just met through.

Naruto was back in Konoha and it was clear that he had done so much more for himself since he had left, at least compared to anyone from his age group that had remained in the village and gone through whatever pathetic excuses for an academy that had produced the monstrosity that was Sakura Haruno. He had seen Temari's expression when she saw the girl and knew she was in for a rude awakening when the exams began.

* * *

**The usual Read review ect. **


	2. What was lost and What was gained

**Wow, I'm surprised at how many people seem interested in this. Anyway thanks for the reviews. I quite enjoyed writing this so hopefully it will meet everyone's expectations.**

**Still don't own Naruto  
**

* * *

**What was lost and What was gained.**

* * *

The morning air was cold and sharp on his skin as Naruto stepped out of the hotel they were being housed in, Temari by his side. He looked around; Konoha was much as he remembered it, there had been some changes but he could still see the places he had hidden in when he was a child. He set off, Temari matching him step for step. He watched the citizens out of the corner of his eyes, he wondered if anyone would recognise him but he doubted it, he had been known as the Whisker Demon and with the birthmarks gone he doubted anyone would find him all that remarkable.

"Does it feel weird to be back here?" Temari asked, her voice, which he found so pleasant burst through his thoughts. He turned his head and smiled at her, a smile she returned making his own widen flashing his fang like teeth. He liked Temari, well he liked all three of his friends, the people of Suna tended to avoid the Kazekage's children and as he was considered one himself, even if it wasn't by blood it meant the four of them only really had each other as close companions. However Naruto still found it strange that in Suna he had friends and most people respected his opinion on things. It was a bitter pill to swallow that he would have been denied that had he remained here.

"Thinking about what changes and what doesn't." He replied Temari's smile faded a bit. Out of all of them she knew the most about his experience in Konoha, Kankuro and Gaara weren't really the best people to talk to about that kind of stuff with after all. Mind you Temari wasn't exactly ideal either, but he felt that she should know all the same.

"You don't regret leaving." He could hear the curiosity in her voice and the undertone of nervousness. He wondered what the nervousness was about. Temari, cruelest of the Kunoichi's didn't get nervous, blunt yes but never nervous.

"Of course not I met you lot didn't I? And considering what we saw yesterday do you think I'd regret it for even a second?" Naruto's smile widened, leaving Konoha was worth it just for Temari, hell the fact that the Kazekage despite being a bastard still treated him better than his birth parents had made it worth it too and the fact that he had friends was the icing on the cake. Suna was a cruel place, they made no secret of it and to be honest it was the best place for him to be. His history meant that Suna appealed more than any other village, if only because he could appreciate the world they lived in.

He looked up, they had made it to the commercial district. He looked around for a weapons store and quickly found one, Temari walking after him. He felt slightly strange around Temari, he had for a while but didn't know what to do about it, Gaara would probably kill him if he tried anything anyway, adoptive brother or not. He figured the feelings were because they were alone for once. Well Gaara might be around, he wasn't there when they woke up, but Naruto suspected he was hunting for interesting people as the red head called it, at least he didn't kill them anymore. Suna's death rate had dropped dramatically after Naruto had arrived. People still came up of the street to thank him; it was a strange experience to be sure.

They arrived at the door and he resisted the strange urge to hold Temari's hand, she wouldn't want anyone they were talking to see her as anything but a serious Kunoichi, actually now that he thought about it, that this trip was probably the most intimate they would be for the duration of the preliminary exams upset him for some reason. Resolving to think about it later, he pushed open the door and walked to where the Kunai were, he guessed that five hundred would be enough to replenish his reserves.

XXX

Contrary to what Naruto thought Gaara wasn't hunting for new interesting people he was watching two of the three that he enjoyed watching more than anything. The sand user sat on top of a shop opposite the one that Naruto and Temari were entering and suppressed a smile when he saw them. He was pleased that his brother in all but blood and his sister were developing a relationship, they suited each other and he was confident that the pair of them could protect each other. Besides it's not like there was anyone else in the village that were strong enough for them. All four of them were powerful enough to have been promoted long ago, but then this invasion came up. Gaara didn't like it for the simple reason that he didn't want to be used as a weapon. He knew Naruto was even more cautious about it than Temari and himself were. He hadn't asked what Kankuro thought about it however so he had no idea what his brother's thoughts were.

He knew that Naruto was loyal to Suna and his concerns had more to do with upsetting the precarious balance and the peace or rather stalemate that existed between the villages. It mattered little to Gaara. He was loyal to his family and his village and through that his father, despite the dislike he held for the man.

He stood up and made to return to their Hotel, he hadn't found anyone who would be truly challenging in the exams, had they been allowed reached their full conclusion he suspected that it would be Naruto and himself. Naruto was the only one who could stop his sand effectively and Naruto was too clever to not win his own fights. He saw them come out and used the **Shunshin** to return to the room, wouldn't do to be caught by Temari spying on her and the boy she had chosen to be hers. He wondered if Naruto knew that and if he didn't whether he should tell him. In the end he decided it would be funnier not to, Gaara may not have had much of a sense of humor but as Kankuro said it was fun messing with those two when the subject was each other.

XXX

Naruto walked out of the shop, the Kunai lashed together with rope and floating slightly above his hands. He strode forward, his determination obvious. He hated being in the commercial district, it had been one of the worst places to be in his youth, and he could feel the hate and anger bubbling up inside him like some sort of geyser. Temari was once again at his side, looking at him with some concern, he ignored it however his only desire was to get out of the area now. He was feeling like a claustrophobic in a cupboard.

Looking ahead he missed the one eyed Leaf Jonin with the gravity defying silver hair and little dog on his head as he walked past, his noise once again in his little orange book He may have had personal problems with Jiraiya but the man was a literary genius. He walked past two blonde Suna nins, he studied them as they strode past him, they were clearly talented and the boy was wearing robes which hadn't been seen outside the village since the Sandaime Kazekage went missing prior to the third war. He frowned; He knew what the primary function of people with the thirds skills were in relation to Suna's military forces. He wondered if Mitsuko wouldn't be the only Jinchūriki participating in the upcoming exams.

The two of them were obviously close, even if that closeness wasn't being advertised; he could tell the girl wanted to walk closer to the boy but was holding herself back. No fan girl then. They had hard eyes too he thought, but then again most Suna nin had hard eyes, a symptom of their home he guessed. The entire village was a harsh place, the descendants of the desert tribesmen who founded the village could be no less. He recalled there had been a battle near the village during the war and some civilians had come out and butchered a company of the attacking nins from Taki. Still despite that it was the smallest of the great five and the one that was most likely to accept foreign recruits. He sometimes wondered whether that was where Naruto had gone. He couldn't think of anywhere else he doubted Iwa would want a child of the Fourth and Kumo would only want a bloodline, they had enough recruits already from their own village otherwise. He heard Pakkun give a yip of surprise and he made a note to ask about it later when he got back to his apartment. He had waited for the brats to come and ask for training but no one showed so he figured he could have a nice day reading Icha Icha.

Naruto glanced back and caught the eye of Pakkun. He hadn't realised that Kakashi was near, but he realised that if anyone would recognise him it would be Kakashi's primary summon. He wasn't too bothered by the whole thing, it would become clear who he was when the exam's started and if things had continued the way they had been going when he left, then Kakashi wouldn't tell the Namikaze/ Uzumaki clan or whatever his birth family were calling themselves these days.

"I'm going to have to go and play catch up with someone later on." He murmured to Temari, the noise from the crowd as they rushed from shop to shop drowning his voice out and preventing anyone but his adoptive sister from hearing.

"Who? Is it going to interfere with, that _man's plan_?" she asked almost spitting the last part out. No one was fond of Orochimaru's plans and Naruto couldn't throw off the feeling that they were missing something important about the man or snake, he wasn't sure what Orochimaru was these days.

"It shouldn't, I know enough not to say anything. It's just someone who was good to me years ago. I'm worried about what's going to happen though, there's every chance we'll end up starting the Fourth World War over an old man's grudge and your bastard of a father's desire to try and solve the mission crisis, and make up for the fact that Gaara makes a shitty weapon."

"Kazekage-sama." She corrected although she didn't deny the bastard comment. Her father was a bastard after all; it was even an accepted fact back in Suna.

"Do you really think he'd start a war over this?" she asked, more concerned now than she had been before this conversation, she knew Naruto and Gaara had concerns, she and Kankuro did as well. But she hadn't thought that Naruto was looking that far ahead. The idea of war scared her slightly, Suna was the smallest of the great five and with Konoha destroyed they'd be entering with no allies at all, not a good thing.

"He's a bitter old man who was taught most of his life lessons by giant snakes, and Kazekage-sama's being led by the nose. The snake cares nothing for Suna and it's that which worries me the most, if it fails we'll be the ones dealing with the consequences not him." Their whispered conversation had led them to the hotel and they quickly entered the building, not wanting to spend more time than they had too outside, people were already staring at Naruto seemingly holding half a thousand kunai in one hand.

"Keep it quiet though, if we find proof that the Snake's going to betray us them we'll tell someone otherwise it would be best if we just kept an eye out." He finished as they walked up the stairs, Temari's fan scraping along the wall of the narrow passage. She just nodded her head. This had the potential to really do their village over and it suddenly seemed like a dumb idea thought of by a desperate man rather than just a desperate plan.

Naruto walked into the room that he was sharing with the other boys. Temari had her own room and Baki was staying on a different floor. Looking around he noted that their sensei wasn't around. He turned and took in the room; the curtains were still drawn although Kankuro had woken up while they were gone. He was sitting in the corner working on his puppet as was the norm for him. Gaara had returned and was staring at the wall, his sand swirling around him. Naruto guessed he was bored seeing as his cacti collection was back in Suna and he couldn't go and fight anyone. Temari came and sat down on the mattress, she looked at her siblings and sighed, they were a week early, but there wasn't much to do. No one wanted to walk around the village and they weren't able to do anything more than prepare which got boring after a while.

"Who are you going to meet later on?" She asked Naruto, deciding now was the best time to ask.

Naruto didn't answer at first as he sat down and took one of the scrolls on his back from its place and lay it down on the ground and releasing its contents.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan." He replied as the iron powder that had been revealed started to flow around his body and the Kunai began to rise into the air. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him sharply at that.

"How'd he find out you were back?" Kankuro asked his eyes focused intently on his friend.

"His summon recognised me." Naruto replied, his tone showing how unconcerned he was, even as the sand rose up and consumed the first ten Kunai. Temari watched with a strange fascination as the sand raced along the tools, rubbing along the weapons until they began to disintegrate. It was a sight that held a strange beauty to the girl, watching as they were broken down until only their rings remained. Naruto made a gesture and the rings rose until they were level with his eyes and the sand rolled forth again, turning the rings into little floating balls before it all fell to the ground again, resulting in a slightly larger pile than there had been before.

"Is he going to be a problem?" the puppeteer asked. He wasn't sure what they could do against someone like Kakashi, but if he disrupted Suna's plans then he would have to be dealt with.

"Unlikely, he always had a soft spot for me and he's not nearly as close to the Hokage as he used to be, I doubt they repaired their relationship either and I want to find out about whom we're competing against. It'll be worth it for that." All the while he was saying that his black sand continued its assault, the Kunai floating into the air and the sand rushing forward to eat away and make more of itself in a strange cycle of reproduction.

"So that's why you're going?" Temari asked, still a little hesitant about it.

"Enough, Naruto can go if he wishes; I wish to find out more about those with whom I will be competing against." Gaara finally spoke, his eyes looking at Temari and then shifting to Naruto who didn't flinch under their intense gaze.

"I'll make sure that it's private." Naruto said he knew where he was going in any case, the same place he had spent most of his childhood when he realised that the main village wasn't exactly a safe place for him to be.

Temari and Kankuro nodded hesitantly. They trusted Naruto; it was Kakashi who they didn't trust. Gaara was as stoic as ever. While he may have recovered from the darkness that he had fallen into when their uncle had tried to kill him there were still times when that side of him came through and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of that. Naruto didn't bother to say more, there really wasn't anything else to say. And so the rest of the day passed quietly, Naruto built up his reserves, Kankuro fiddled with his puppets. Temari eventually decided to read a book and Gaara amused himself by making constructs out of sand and having them fight each other broken up with staring at the wall for unspecified lengths of time.

XXX

"So Pakkun mind telling me what was so surprising in the market?" Kakashi asked, curious as to what could surprise his summon so much.

"He's back." Kakashi stopped reading. There was no need to specify who he meant.

"Where?" He asked the excitement in his voice obvious.

"He's the one we walked past who was wearing the robes."

"Him? Huh, must be a story about how he came to earn the right to wear those robes."

"Probably, so when are you going to go and talk to him?"

"Who said I was?"

"You did the moment you found out the one Namikaze you still want to associate with socially was in town."

"So where is he?"

"Wait until tonight, he knows we'll come looking, give him time to pick a place."

"You're coming then?"

"Of course I am what kind of question is that?"

Kakashi didn't bother replying, he was too caught up in wondering just what had changed in the last six years for the son of his teacher, the child that he so wished he could have taken on as his own student.

XXX

As night came to the bustling town of Konoha which was even busier due to the Chunin exams than it usually was. Naruto quietly left the hotel room and stole out into the night.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Temari asked as she watched as her crush's figure was swallowed by the darkness.

"Yes." Gaara said before elaborating, "If he needs to he can release his Other." Temari nodded, she had seen the 'Other' Naruto in action before and it put Gaara when he was possessed by Shukaku to shame in some ways.

"I suppose your right." She said before turning and walking out of the room, she didn't need to be around when Naruto returned she knew he would tell her about it in the morning.

"She really needs to tell him you know?" Kankuro said as he watched his sister leave. Gaara didn't bother replying, his sisters love life held little attraction to him aside from creating amusing situations to watch, beyond that he didn't really care, content with the knowledge that both Naruto and Temari would soon stop dancing around each other soon and accept that they both wanted a relationship.

XXX

Naruto moved silently through the village. The air was a lot colder than it was during the day, a strange sensation after all these years of living in the desert. He had grown far more accustomed to the intense dry heat that made up the climate of the land of Wind, than the humid region that he had been born in. Still despite the years he had spent away he still remembered the path up to the one place he had felt comfortable in his youth. It took him nearly ten minutes to get up to the top of the Hokage monument, as was his ritual he kicked the back of the carving of his father. Of course his strength had grown over the years and he was rewarded with a small chunk becoming dislodged and falling off it. He heard his 'Other' what had once been the Kyuubi no Yōko chuckle in the back of his head. Naruto smiled slightly the Kyuubi made for a powerful ally even in its current form and he would even have even gone so far as to say that they were friends. He turned and walked to the face next to his bastard father who he knew was worse than the Kazekage, despite his adoptive sibling's inability to comprehend that fact.

He turned and sat on the Thirds head. Waiting for the man he knew was coming, unbidden his iron sand rose into the air and danced around him, invisible in the night, but a comforting presence none the less. He wasn't sure how but the Kyuubi had retained some control over the magnetic forces that it had gifted Naruto with. It wasn't nearly as much as the Shukaku and by extension Gaara had, but it did mean that there was something to stall long enough for Naruto to respond. He liked to think of it as a sign of the Kyuubi caring for his well being but he suspected it was the Kyuubi's way of retaining at least some independence from the human it had bound itself so tightly to. He watched as the lights around the village winked on and off, it was a beautifully haunting sight and one of the few things that he had actually missed in Suna, it paled in comparison to what he had gained but still it was nice to see it again.

He felt rather than saw Kakashi come and sit next to him and the wet nose brushing against his hand let him know that Pakkun had come as well. Absently he scratched the area behind the miniature pug's ears and looked out over the village with Kakashi, neither saying a thing for a while. Kakashi however was the first to break the companionable silence that had developed.

"You got rid of the birth marks." He finally said. Naruto paused in scratching Pakkun before he resumed at a somewhat slower pace.

"Kazekage-sama thought it would be better if I had them removed, to eliminate my ties to the Namikaze's, it was quite symbolic." He added, still not looking at Kakashi, his feet dangling over the edge and into the air.

"You know the Kazekage?" Kakashi asked, curious about what had happened to the boy in Suna.

"I'm his adopted son." Naruto replied a small smile decorating his face, but going unnoticed in the darkness.

"Ohh, how'd that happen?" Kakashi asked blankly, not really knowing what to think of the Kazekage raising the outcast son of the Hokage.

"You know people were terrified that I was being controlled by the Kyuubi, even Kushina who really should have known better." Naruto said darkly before continuing, "But in the end it gave me more than either Minato-teme or her were ever willing to." As he finished speaking he allowed the Iron sand to drift over to Kakashi and wander over him before flowing back.

"Ahh, he took you in because of that?" Kakashi asked, surprised that the fox had seemingly given Naruto a bloodline and a powerful one at that.

"A few other reasons as well, I think there was a certain satisfaction in taking in the son of a man who he didn't particularly like." Naruto said absently, Kakashi filed that way for later.

"So I hear that you're a Jonin-Sensei." Naruto asked phrasing the question as a statement.

"As much as I loathe it yes that's true. You know I blame you for that in a way." he said, waiting for Naruto to respond. That was the thing he liked about the boy, he was far less volatile than anyone in his family even his father, Not that Kakashi and his old sensei spoke much these days beyond matters pertaining to their official capacity in the village's military forces.

"Why's that?" Naruto asked, although he couldn't see his face, Kakashi could feel the amusement in his voice.

"You could have been my apprentice you know." Naruto didn't respond for a while. The only sound in the air the crickets and his hands scratching the dog's soft fur.

"I doubt Minato-teme would have let that happen. And considering what I found out about the seal he used on me I doubt I would have been accepted in Konoha. What he did would have damned me had I stayed here as a civilian." He said sadly, as much as he tried to hide it, the fact that his parents had willingly sacrificed him hurt despite the hate he harbored for them because of it.

Kakashi didn't know what to say about that. The sad thing was there was every chance that things would have turned out that way, despite his protests. He wondered what Naruto meant when he said that Minato had damned him, but decided to leave it, he'd find out eventually.

"What can you tell me about the Uchiha and Mitsuko?" Naruto finally asked, after the silence had stretched out for what seemed an unbearable length of time.

"You don't call her your sister?" came the response, Naruto smiled, amused at Kakashi's attempts to avoid answering his question.

"The Namikaze's are no family of mine." Kakashi was startled by that statement; he wondered what they would think to learn that their son had willingly cast himself out of their family and by extension the Uzumaki clan. It was a serious thing to do and he couldn't help but wonder if they would feel hurt by that despite the bad blood between them.

"Your sister struggles. It seems she got a whole heap of problems from the Kyuubi's chakra and apart from a healing factor no benefits aside from huge reserves that she's made no attempt to control. She relies on you… sorry her father as well, thinks he'll come and save her when she needs it. Sasuke, he has his Sharingan and while he's no Itachi, it would be wise not to underestimate him."

Naruto nodded, he knew that he wouldn't get anything more out of the man. Despite his dissatisfaction with the Hokage, he was loyal to the leaf. Naruto had to admit he was impressed by Kakashi's loyalty.

"It's a shame things turned out this way really, I think sensei made a mistake all those years ago." Kakashi stood up, followed by Pakkun. "I'll see you around Naruto, good luck in the exams." Naruto nodded, forgetting that Kakashi couldn't see in the dark and stayed sitting there. Staring blankly into the night, thinking about what could have been. Finally after several hours he rose and began the journey back to his room.

Things had turned out for the best really. There was no point regretting leaving. He had done so and found happiness. Despite Kakashi's promises Konoha held nothing for him, neither back then or now. In fact the more that he thought about it, he probably would have pulled an Itachi Uchiha and massacred his family before running away. His last thoughts before sleep took him were whether the words that Itachi had spoken to him that night so long ago had been a precursor to what the Uchiha prodigy would do two years later. Had the massacre been Itachi's release?

XXX

"I still don't get why you wear it, it has to be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen anyone wear." Temari said to Naruto as they walked towards where the first stages of the Chunin exams were supposed to take place. Naruto grinned, Temari had never liked his robes, personally he was rather indifferent to them, but they had been a gift and he kept them because of that simple fact.

"Why does Kankuro wear his cat suit?" He heard spluttering and Kankuro turned around to face him, his freshly applied face paint shining in the early morning sun.

'It's not a cat suit! It's a traditional Suna Puppeteer corps battle costume. It's just as traditional as those robes you're wearing!"

"I still don't see why you were them Naruto, Kankuro sure, I mean he's a bit of a loser anyway. But those things are older than the Kazekage!" Temari exclaimed, ignoring the now red faced Kankuro. Absently Naruto noted that it was getting hard to see where the paint ended and his skin began. He also noted that Temari hadn't called the Kazekage father. None of them had done that in a while he reflected.

"They were a gift alright! They came with the Jiton scrolls Kazekage-sama gave me!" Naruto exclaimed, uncomfortable about being put on the spot like this. No doubt Temari could have found him better clothes, but he liked the fact that the Kazekage had seen him as worthy enough to get such a gift.

"Enough Temari, what he wears is Naruto's own concern." Gaara drawled out in his usual monotone, not even bothering to turn and look at the two blonde Suna nins. Naruto smiled, Gaara understood the significance of getting a gift, after all their lives had been remarkably similar until they had met six years ago. Gifts were rare and you learnt to value them because you never knew when you would be getting another one. He knew Gaara felt the same way even if he had never articulated the sentiment.

They continued walking in and soon saw the room that they were supposed to be waiting in, or rather they would be had it not been on the second floor rather than the third. Naruto didn't even need the Kyuubi, not that it called itself the Kyuubi these days, the pair of them were still working on a name to call the former Biju, to tell him it was a Genjutsu.

Wordlessly the four of them continued their journey, there were few if any people around aside from the two disguised Chunin who were trying to intimidate as many Genin as they could. It had little if any effect on the Suna nins. After all they weren't normal Genin by any stretch of the imagination. Walking into the room, they saw many people already there, including the spy Kabuto Yakushi. Naruto bared his teeth at the boy. He despised Orochimaru and his toadies and should they prove traitorous, something he knew would happen; he would have no problems eliminating them.

Naruto was surprised when he felt the killing intent everyone leveled at the four of them, it was nothing compared to Gaara when he let go, but still it was a surprising response to their presence. He wondered about flaring his own but the decision was made for him when he felt the pressing feeling of the insanity and bloodlust that came with Gaara releasing his own killing intent. He smiled when everyone suddenly turned back to what they were doing and ignored them.

He watched the door for a bit, ignoring Temari as she tried to wind Kankuro up. He watched as more Konoha nins came in, strangely enough they seemed to be remarkably uninterested in observing their opponents and instead played catch up. Naruto guessed that they were rookies although he was surprised that they were entering as well. He had guessed Kakashi would have entered his in an attempt to change their attitudes and open their eyes a bit. Thus he wasn't surprised when they entered. This time Naruto joined in with the Killing intent and allowed his own KI, which had acquired according to the remnant of the Kyuubi that was within him a distinct Biju flavour, to mix. The anger and bloodlust he released making more than a few people shiver he was pleased to note.

"What are they doing letting stupid baby faced Genin in here?" He heard Kankuro mutter. He ignored it; he suspected that Kankuro's problems with people younger than him probably had something to do with living for nearly two years with an unstable Gaara. And the three years after Naruto himself had come where Gaara still wasn't entirely recovered from his bout with insanity. Both those events had left their mark on everyone; it was just more obvious with Kankuro.

He watched as Kabuto talked to the Rookies. He smiled when he saw them look his way, no doubt one had asked about one or all of them. The two teams that they made up, himself and Gaara as Team One and Temari and Kankuro as Team Two had fairly impressive mission stats, all the more so when you considered that Gaara had never been hurt. He turned away bored when he saw the Sound team go in. He wasn't sure but he guessed that they were Snake toadies too.

Suddenly he felt the crushing Killing Intent of someone who was obviously trained in it. He flared his own to counteract it and turned to face the man who had arrived. Looking at the clearly battle hardened Konoha nin, it was clear that the Chunin exams were about to begin, and Naruto's great return to Konoha was about to get underway. He smiled savagely, his fox like teeth flashing; he was going to enjoy this.

* * *

**So tell me what you think.**


	3. The art of Intimidation

**The art of Intimidation**

* * *

Wow, very much surprised at the attention this and the attention everything I've published has gotten. Anyway thanks for taking the time to review and hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter.

**I still don't own Naruto**

* * *

Naruto looked down at his test paper and grimaced. Absently he leafed through the pages, eyes scanning the questions relentlessly. He guessed that he could answer maybe half of the questions, but that was more of a result of his own natural intelligence and experience than because of what he had been taught by Baki or what he had learnt from the Kazekage when the village leader chose to instruct him in their shared bloodline limit. He looked up and nearly laughed when he saw Mitsuko seemingly going into shock, he guessed academia wasn't her strong suit, not that anything was her strong suit if he had understood Kakashi correctly.

He turned back and looked at the instructions, quickly reading them. He frowned and read them again. '_It makes no sense unless we're meant to be cheating, it's not like they've done anything about those who have Dojutsu either.'_ He looked up and the frown deepened. There were a series of mirrors that were being manipulated by someone by the looks of it. '_Huh so considering all this, I would say we are supposed to cheat and not get caught, basic information gathering then.'_ It was a good thing he had his bloodline or rather he had chosen to replicate the Shukaku's gifts with his, not that the Kazekage had given him much of a choice. He reached around and touched one of the four scrolls on his back. The iron powder did weigh more than Gaara's sand which was why Naruto had opted not to carry a gourd. The increased mobility he had far outweighed the time it took to unseal the powder, well in his opinion anyway. Not to mention in a few years he would be able to pull it from the area like the Kazekage and Gaara could anyway.

He sent out a pulse of his chakra and felt the powder being released into the air. Looking around he noted that no one seemed to have seen him. Well that he could see in any case from his position at the back of the exam room. There were many benefits to being Gaara's team mate, the most significant being the fact that by being with him in nearly every combat situation that the red head found himself in Naruto could adapt more and more sand Jutsu for his Jiton. What he was going to use now was an old one. One of the first that the Third had made actually and it was a staple of the Kazekage, Gaara and himself these days. He began to go through the hand signs he would need for the technique and closed his left eye as he began. '_Snake travels to Monkey, turns to Rat, followed by Monkey, chased by Bird, returns to Monkey, consumed by Dragon, but back to Monkey, to Rat, finishing with Monkey.' _"**Jiton: Daisan no Me (Third Eye)."**

He felt the Jutsu take effect as it connected to his optic nerve and he looked at one of the people who he now realised must be a plant seeing as there seemed to be a certain number of people who had no trouble answering the questions. Furtively he glanced around, no one was watching him, and he guessed as long as it wasn't obvious he would get away with it. Quietly he tossed his artificial eye into the air and quickly used his Kekkei Genkai to move it so that it was looking down on the guy, who he guessed was a Chunin like the proctors as he answered his paper. He smirked, the first time he allowed emotion to show on his face since he began his technique. From his new angle of sight, looking directly down on the plants paper he began to write. He suspected that Gaara would be doing something similar with his own Third Eye technique and Kankuro would work something out with his puppet. He wasn't sure about Temari although he had no doubt about her abilities, she'd be fine. He returned to copying the plant and ignored everything else. Although he did note that Kankuro was going to the bathroom for whatever reason. He looked up and watched the Proctor with him, which upon closer inspection he realised had to be Crow. '_Clever_'. He thought.

Finishing he allowed his eye to dispense and opened his actual eye, the sand flowing back to his body and securing itself to his skin. He didn't keep a replica of Gaara's sand armor on him, preferring to use it only when going into battle, if at all. He sat for a while and watched the other participants. Mostly he watched Mitsuko who seemed to have gone to sleep.

He didn't hate his sister, not really. He was annoyed at the fact she seemed to have rejected all the opportunities that he would have killed for, and he resented the place that she held in the Namikaze's hearts. Of course he didn't resent that part anymore, he had a new family. And that had led to a lessening of his hate to the point where she simply annoyed him. Her arrogance grated on him too, and the fact that she thought Minato-teme would save her. He wouldn't if it didn't suit him and the idea of losing his sister made him feel strange? He wouldn't be too upset but he did think he would be affected in some way by her death. It was a confusing train of thoughts in any case. Mitsuko was a minor matter in any case compared to Minato-teme and Kushina, those two he really hated with all his being.

Besides, he alone knew what Mitsuko was in for as the chakra reformed itself into a Biju, and he knew that that would be a far greater agony than anything he could do.

"We will now begin the tenth question." The head of the test spoke, Naruto detected the hints of Killing intent and guessed that the man in front of him had some experience with using it.

Naruto barely paid attention as the man spoke to Kankuro who had returned from the bathroom.

"There are a number of additional rules for this question." The man began. Naruto watched him steadily, not allowing the eye contact he had established to end. He doubted the man would give anything away, but it always paid to be prepared.

"First you must choose if you wish to take this question." The man continued. Naruto waited and was rewarded with Temari exploding like he knew she would.

"Choose! What happens if we choose not too?" She said and Naruto repressed a smile. He found her inability to control her emotions very endearing.

"If you choose not to, your score will turn to zero and your entire team will fail the exam." This produced a flurry of people claiming that they were naturally going to take the last question. Naruto didn't say anything however, instead choosing to wait until the next restriction was placed which it surely would.

"If you choose to take it and then fail the question then you will never be able to sit the exam again." The man said next, causing everyone in the room to stop and freeze. Naruto looked at the man but noted that he wasn't revealing anything. A pity, but he needed to think about this. Naruto kept his eyes on the man, ignoring the Inuzuka who chose to jump up and yell at the man.

"I'm going to give you the opportunity of leaving now and sitting next year." The man said, before watching everybody's reactions. Naruto frowned, it was a hard choice, made all the more so by the guy who was in charge of the exam.

"Let us begin the tenth question." The man spoke quietly, but it carried over the silent room, chilling all the Genin within the room.

Naruto waited, he was confident he could answer it and it wasn't like he would remain a Genin forever, if he really wanted the Kazekage could just give him a field promotion. The exams weren't that important to him or Gaara really. He'd take the question he decided. Decision made, he slouched in his seat, waiting for the storm to blow over.

It was then that suddenly huge numbers of people began to leave, Naruto was surprised at how many people there were, but he guessed that if he didn't have the Kyuubi countering the Killing intent that the man was giving off, he wouldn't be thinking too clearly either. More and more people were leaving, and Naruto watched as the room slowly but surely emptied. That was at least until the kid wearing the green spandex suit jumped up.

"Yosh! I will not see my dream to become a splendid ninja end here. Even if I remain a Genin all my life I will prove that I can succeed with Taijutsu alone." Naruto watched as everyone's spirits seemed to rise after that statement. It was a curious sight in any case.

"This is your last chance to quit." Was the reply, spoken in a silky almost seductive tone, as if begging everyone to quit.

"No, I will succeed!" Was the green spandex kid's overly enthusiastic reply.

"Very well then, you remaining seventy eight all pass the first test!" The man suddenly exclaimed and Naruto looked up, surprised.

"What!, what about the tenth question? How'd we already pass?" That came from the Sakura girl. Naruto looked up, noticing that Gaara was ignoring the whole exchange, not really surprising. The same could not be said for Temari however who was glaring at the man as though he had killed her puppy, something that Gaara had apparently done two months before Naruto had come to Suna. She still hadn't said anything to Gaara, but he suspected that it had more to do with her liking that Weasel she summoned better than some stray dog she found one day.

"The choice you all just made could be seen as the tenth question, but really there never was one." The man said beaming '_his personality's done a complete one eighty'_ was the thought echoing in Naruto's mind as he watched the situation develop.

"Then what were the first nine questions for they were pointless!" Temari roared out. He wasn't surprised; she did have a ridiculously short temper after all. He figured the fact that he found that attractive was just further proof that he was a masochist.

"They served their intended purpose." Was all the man said, seemingly waiting for someone to ask what that was.

"And what was that!" Mitsuko finally demanded. He was surprised that it had taken this long for her to enter the discussion. For a while he thought that maybe her personality had changed in the intervening six years, but this more or less confirmed that she hadn't changed from the loud, obnoxious, over indulged, spoilt brat that he had left behind.

"Information gathering." Naruto said evenly, looking at the man to see if he was right. He noted that the man was studying him intently, but he did nod to indicate that Naruto was correct.

"Correct, the test was designed to put pressure on each team member not to ruin things for their teammates. Then the questions were such that no mere Genin would be able to answer them. Thus most people would have come to the conclusion that they would have to cheat in order to pass." The man continued. He seemed very pleased with the test. So much so that Naruto suspected that he probably came up with it himself, or maybe he was simply sounding like that in order to make people think that. He gave up thinking about it, it wasn't particularly important and he was just confusing himself.

He zoned out for the rest of it, he didn't care about how the test was structured, he doubted he would have to come up with a test and if he did, well he would probably just get Gaara to threaten people. Gaara had a real talent with that, especially when he went into details about how to get the best blood splatter using sand. Naruto wasn't sure but he was fairly confident that those conversations were examples of Gaara's sense of humor. Well he hoped that it was an example of humor, otherwise it was just plain psychotic.

He looked up just as there was a loud crash and the window broke and something came through it. Quickly he glanced at the head Procter, he didn't look worried, but he released more powder in any case. You never knew when you might need it. He relaxed when it was revealed to be another Konoha nin. Clearly she was the next testing officer.

"This is no time to be celebrating! I'm the second exam Procter Mitarashi Anko, Now let's go!" Naruto looked at the Procter and stared. He wasn't sure who she reminded him of, but the word insane was bouncing around in his mind.

"Man there sure are a lot of you," She said looking around the remaining Genin, "no matter I'll cut you in half at least, now come on." And with that she strode off, ignoring the scared guy who was trying to tell her she was early.

XXX

"Welcome to the Forrest of Death." Naruto glanced into the intimidating woods, they were unsettling, but only because they created such an enclosed space compared to the wide, spacious desert that he was used to and most comfortable with.

"You'll soon find out why it's called that." The woman, who Naruto was now reasonably positive was nuts said with a smile.

"Huh, you think that scares me! I'm the Hokage's daughter, the great Mitsuko Namikaze, I'm not afraid of a stupid forest, especially if it has a stupid name!" Somehow Naruto wasn't surprised she had said something like that. Hell, she probably didn't even realise that it had turned her into an even bigger target than she was before. He wondered how he could be related, even reluctantly to someone that stupid.

"Huh, kids like you won't even last a minute; soon you'll be spraying that red blood that I love so much."

Naruto glanced behind him and watched as the Procter licked Mitsuko's blood, it was a very disturbing sight, but one he had come to accept as keeping in theme for the exam which seemed to be stressing intimidation. Still the girl with the super long tongue felt familiar somehow, he wasn't sure when he had met her, but he was confident that he had. He ignored the rest of the explanation, only taking note that they were allowed to kill. He wasn't bothered much by that. Shinobi lived with death, and after being a part of Suna for so many years he was more or less apathetic to the concept of killing. He had done enough and seen enough that doing it here would make no difference, especially if it was in the interest of the village.

When he was handed the forms he quickly signed them and handed them back. He wouldn't die; he had too many things going for him to die here in a forest, even if it was called the Forest of Death. He returned to studying the shadowed forest, with it oppressive trees and countless spots for an ambush. He may not like the forest, but there could be no denying that the forest would prove an interesting battle ground.

"You will be participating in a no holds barred scroll battle." He looked up at that, they had done similar exercises at the Suna academy, they couldn't kill each other, but he was familiar enough with the concepts to quickly grasp what was meant to happen. He ignored the rest of the explanation, it wouldn't take himself and Gaara more than a day, two at the very most to get through, so a time limit of five didn't bother him too much.

He had to repress a laugh when the fat kid asked about food. Stupid Konoha ninja's, they could all die and he was worried about food of all things, he should have supplies in a scroll anyway.

Naruto walked forward and claimed Gaara and himself a scroll. Gaara's eyes bored into him as he walked back; securing the scroll beneath the others he carried.

"Earth." He muttered to Gaara as he walked past the shorter boy and stopped slightly behind him. Gaara nodded, not bothering to reply.

"You and the rest of your team, come with us." Naruto looked up and locked eyes with another Konoha Chunin, although he could tell just by looking at him that this was one of the Shinobi who had made a career out of being nobody important. He would never become a Jonin or earn a place in the Bingo book. Being a Proctor was probably the most he would ever do, well that and manage mission assignments. Gaara looked at the man for a couple of seconds and then nodded, walking after the nondescript Chunin, Naruto following, watching Gaara's back just as he had been doing for as long as he and Gaara had been Shinobi of Suna.

"Only two of you?" the man asked as he led them towards one of the gates that surrounded the training area. Naruto couldn't see Temari or Kankuro; he guessed that they would have to meet up at the tower. He didn't doubt for a second that the other two of their quartet wouldn't make it. It was about as impossible as Gaara and himself not making it.

""We're special like that." Naruto replied absently watching the numbers go past.

"Huh, well the Konoha teams will deal with you soon enough." Naruto rolled his eyes at that, he had to admire the man's faith, but the rookies wouldn't stand a chance against him.

"Yeah whatever." Naruto said as they finally came to a stop. He looked up and took note that they were at gate six. He looked at Gaara who was staring into the forest in a manner that was oddly remonstrant of what Naruto had been doing earlier.

"Catch and crush?" Naruto asked a grin on his face. His blood was up and after the test he felt like cutting loose.

"Naturally." Was the reply, causing Naruto's grin to widen and a smirk to appear on Gaara, the two of them really were quite similar despite Gaara being the quieter one.

"The second test has now begun!" Naruto heard, just as the gate in front of him was flung open. He let out a laugh as he and Gaara jumped through, Gaara wasn't really that fast, but he was faster than most Genin. Trees flashed past them and Naruto allowed his mirth to break through. Heads were going to roll, and he, Kuroi suna no Naruto was going to be the one doing it.

XXX

Naruto looked around, they had been traveling for a half an hour and so far nothing had happened. Truthfully he was rather disappointed. He could hear the screams from the surrounding area, or rather he had for the first ten minutes and then everything had become silent again. So far nothing had happened at all, not even any animals had attacked them, although that might have had more to do with Gaara leaking Shukaku's influence. It was a part of the seal used to cage the Ichibi, and it did come in useful at times like this, but it did make sneaking up on people useless if they had a capable sensor.

"**Ningen, there are some flesh sacks about four hundred meters to your right."** Naruto heard the voice of the Kyuubi from the back of his mind, although that wasn't totally correct. He wasn't quite sure how to describe it, he knew that Gaara faced the same problem when he was trying to explain where he heard the Shukaku's insane ramblings.

'_Thanks, have you thought of a name to be called?" _ Naruto asked, the one time he had called the remnant Kyuubi it had flown into a rage about how it was an offense to call it the mightiest of the Biju, something that it could no longer claim to be. Naruto didn't really understand it, but he had learnt through conversations with it, that it no longer considered it's self a Biju and considering it had at best a tail of Chakra calling it Kyuubi simply offended it.

"**Kurama was the name the sage gave me. I will be called Kurama. Now go and provide me with some entertainment." **Naruto nodded wondering when the sage fond the time to name a rampaging fox made out of Chakra and why he would do that. He then turned to Gaara who was watching him intently. He wasn't sure how but Gaara could tell when he was communicating with the Kyuubi, '_Kurama.'_ He mentally corrected himself.

"Four hundred meters to our right." Naruto said, looking at his best friend. Gaara nodded and turned to where Naruto was pointing.

"Did it say how strong they were?" Gaara asked quietly, not bothering to add the other part of the question, _do we need to kill them. _

"No idea, I figure we'll make that decision when we meet them." Naruto replied flippantly, he wasn't worried, if they annoyed him he would kill them, and if Suna would benefit from their deaths them he had a responsibility to kill them. As the Kazekage said, 'As a Shinobi of Suna all decisions must be made with Suna's value in mind.'

Gaara nodded and started to move in the direction that Naruto had recommended, Naruto following behind him. He never liked being first or in the spotlight. Being noticed had consequences he wasn't comfortable with, so he tended to hang back and left Gaara to be the leader. Gaara despite appearances was far more willing to be the public face of the duo than Naruto usually was, not to meantion he was far stronger than Naruto, even if he did have exceptionally large reserves for a non-Jinchuriki.

They emerged from the ancient trees and landed in a clearing. Naruto looked across the open space and at the three figures who although they didn't know it, would soon have their fates decided. He studied them intently, practiced eyes taking in everything within moments.

'_Ame nins, with umbrella's, likely to be ranged based combatants with minimal close range abilities, not unlike us then. Over reliance on tools means small reserves as well as dependence on quickly eliminating targets. Senbon needles as weapons of choice. Genjutsu is a maybe then. Unlikely to be much of a threat to us.'_ All of this whizzed through the blondes head. He would wait for them to make the first move. Hopefully for their sakes they wouldn't say anything to offend Gaara, or himself.

"Sand brats, attacking us head on, how foolish, trying that against superior Shinobi like ourselves." The one closest to them said. Naruto gritted his teeth. If there was one thing he hated it was being underestimated. These idiots were going to die now; there was no question about it. The only thing that he could think might be a sufficient argument against killing them would be the fact that he would be doing Hanzo a favor by thinning Ame's ranks of these idiots.

"You're both going to die." The apparent leader continued. Naruto let loose a small growl at that, he hated people who acted like this.

"Just try it, old man in the rain." Gaara responded, shifting his weight slightly so he wouldn't fall over when he let loose with his sand.

"Yeah, you're getting on my nerves, it doesn't matter which scroll you have, I'm way too pissed off to care about that now." Naruto said glaring at the one Gaara had called old man.

"Fine then, here I come. **Ninpo: Jouro Senbon**!" He exclaimed as he threw one of the umbrellas on his back into the air and it began to rain senbon needles, much like Naruto had summarised initially. He tried to manipulate them and send them back to their sender as it were, however that was not to be. He felt like groaning, copper senbon wern't particually common, but they were excellent Raiton conductors as well and copper was the primary metel in Ame, just as Gold and Iron to a lesser degree dominated Kaze no Kuni.

Quickly Naruto reached behind himself and resting a hand on the two scrolls he kept his powder in, he sent a sizable burst of Chakra into them, releasing a thick cloud of the black powder, that some claimed was the most feared weapon of Suna. Naruto didn't need to look to know that Gaara's sand was already doing the shield of sand that Gaara was known for. He felt some of the sand flow out and fall on three people in the bushes. He smiled, his teeth flashing in the sun. He hadn't realised that people were watching. But then again, having them spread the word would only make things more interesting later on.

Naruto concentrated and went through the couple of gestures for his own defensive Jutsu. While it wasn't ultimate like Gaara's, it would be enough to stop the senbon.

"**Jiton: Teppeki! Magnet release: Iron Wall" **Naruto exclaimed, trusting his hand out and willing the swirling mass of sand under his control to compact around himself and cover his body in a round shield, an exact replica of Gaara's with the exception being that he needed to activate it himself and it wasn't as strong as the original. Still it did the job and it took a lot for him to bring out the improved version.

He felt and heard the soft 'thunk' sound as the needles impacted on his defensive Jutsu. He waited for a few moments after the impact's stopped and then allowed the Jutsu to collapse.

"Not a single one? Impossible!" Naruto heard the Ame nin splutter as he no doubt struggled to comprehend how his attack failed to hit either of them.

"Well then, I guess I'll make it rain blood." Gaara stated in a dull monotone, somehow managing to put less emotion than usual into it.

Naruto smiled at that, it was difficult to get Gaara's humor, brutality was rarely funny after all, but Gaara did have his moments.

"Impossible, those needles can pierce five millimeters of steel when I put chakra through them!" Naruto's eyes widened in shock at that, he was pleased that he didn't have to spread his Jutsu out, any thinner and it would have let the needles in.

"It doesn't matter, against us, and especially Gaara. Almost every attack fails." Naruto replied enjoying this, taking note that the watchers were also listening. He would deal with them next.

"Shut up!" Naruto watched as the leader ran towards them, it was the dumbest thing he could have done, not that he would have known.

"**Sabaku Kyū**" Naruto didn't say anything as he watched the process that he had called, 'catch and crush' play out. It was the same the world over. He thought. People attack, they freak, they try running, they get caught and then… He turned to Gaara waiting for the next bit. He wasn't disappointed.

"**Sabaku Sōsō"** Naruto raised his own black sand around Gaara's to catch the blood. He really didn't need to be covered in the stuff. He watched impassively as the sand proceeded to crush the man's body and he silently marveled at the amount of blood Gaara managed to get out of him.

"He..here, take the scroll, we don't want it." Naruto's attention turned to the surviving members of the Ame team. His eyes hardened as he heard that.

"It's too late now." Naruto said. His eyes cold and distant, they were so lifeless that they looked almost grey.

"You challenged us and then managed to annoy me, so I'm afraid it's the end of the road for you two. **Jiton: Tetsu no seppa** **Magnet release: Iron cutting feathers.**" Naruto said dully in much the same way that Gaara had spoken, as the sand swirled around him, before condensing and turning into ten feather like blades floating around his body. He looked them in the eyes and smirked when he saw the terror reflected in them. He thrust his hand out and turned his chakra into a repelling magnetic field and watched as the blades cut through the air and severed their limbs from their bodies. He watched emotionlessly as his sand returned to him, he felt it swirl around him, seemingly excited. He wasn't sure if the blood led to the sand gaining sentience, he had sentient sand already sealed into a separate scroll. But it always did seem pleased when he killed with it. Not for the first time he wondered how much of Yoko lived within the sand. When the former Biju left his mind scape, he had never worked out where it had gone, but he suspected that at least some of its blood lust was bound within the magnetic fields he manipulated.

"You can come out now." Naruto said, not bothering to turn around. He heard rustling in the bushes behind him and he turned around just as the three Konoha nins became visible.

"So, you think you can take us as you are?" Naruto asked jovially. As he studied the three of them. He recognised the Hyuga, her eyes gave her away, as did the clan markings and dog for the Inuzuka. He studied the last one, confused as there wasn't anything on the boy that he recognised.

"**Aburame." **He heard Kurama mutter as he tried to place the boy.

"So you thought you could sneak up on us and take our scroll did you?" he asked again this time letting out his killing intent. He noted the dog was squirming.

None of them replied. He noted that they were all trembling. '_pathetic' _he thought, the Hyuga looked as if she was about to faint or piss herself he wasn't sure.

"It doesn't matter I'm not really tempted to kill you out here. It would be better to defeat the three of you where people can see how superior Suna is to Konoha, especially as all three of you come from clans." Naruto said as he sealed away the sand, he noted out of the corner of his eye that Gaara had the scroll. He raised an eyebrow at his red headed friend and smiled at the nod.

"Don't follow us." Naruto said before he turned and began to move away, following Gaara.

"It would be logical to leave those two alone, why? They are much stronger than us." Shino said as he looked at the backs of the two sand wielding Shinobi.

"Yeah, I see what Akamaru meant when he said that the big guy was in trouble." Kiba said hollowly as the dog shivered. Hinata didn't say anything, she was still shaking from the killing intent that the Blonde had used.

"le-le-lets, ju-ju-just g-g-go." She finally managed to get out and her teammates nodded, desiring nothing more than to get out of the blood soaked clearing.

XXX

"Ninety seven minutes must be some kind of record." Naruto said as he glanced around at the tower. They hadn't run into anyone else. After taking the scroll from the Ame nin which had turned out to be the Heaven scroll they needed they had gone straight to the tower, neither wanting to spend any more time in the forest than they had to.

"It will no doubt benefit Suna." Gaara replied his eyes on the tower as they walked up to it.

"Let's hope so, the Kazekage won't be able to complain in any case." Naruto replied as they entered the first room they could see.

They unraveled a scroll each, Naruto's eyes widening slightly when he saw that they were summoning scrolls. There was a poof of smoke and another Chunin, appeared. He glanced around and then looked at the pair of them, taking note that neither appeared injured and Naruto only had some light scrapes and mud on him.

"So what now?" Naruto asked as the smoke dispensed.

"Um, well I guess you guys pass." The Chunin said shakily, struggling to work out how two kids who didn't look all that dangerous had managed to complete the test in an hour and a half.

"Fine, let us through." Gaara replied, pushing past the Chunin and walking through the door. Naruto followed, nodding to the Chunin as he walked by him, the older man he noted seemed to be having real difficulty dealing with the idea that they were already done. The two sand nins walked into the tower and Naruto glanced around.

"Huh, this is nice I guess. I wonder how long the others will be." Naruto said as he looked around the area where they would be staying for the next couple of days, it was going to be a boring five days in any case.

* * *

**Jutsu**

**Jiton: Teppeki! Magnet release: Iron Wall: **B rank. Naruto's version of Gaara's automatic defence. Notable for being slightly weaker but being able to cover a larger area than Gaara's can. There are several stronger versions of the Jutsu that can be used should they be needed.

**Jiton: Tetsu no seppa** **Magnet release: Iron cutting feathers: **B rank. Naruto compacts the powder until it takes the form of a number of long feather like projectiles that he can launch at will. Capable of both piercing and cutting, they make an effective mid ranged offense that can be supplemented with Futon Jutsu should it be required for extra range.

* * *

**So what did you like/ not like ect?**


	4. Let the Games Begin!

**Sincere apologies for the delay, but a lot of shit has been going down recently as well as a lack of internet access. I'm not sure about the quality of writing here, but it did achieve what I wanted it to do, which is go into a bit of depth about Naruto and Kurama's relationship and Naruto and his parents. Not a lot of action, the major fights will be covered next chapter. Anyway enjoy and please review. As far as last chapters reviews the reply thingy wasn't working so I figured I'd wait and do it here. And thanks for all the reviews! The response has been awesome!**

**Don't own Naruto  
**

**Review responses**

Bakapervert, wong jowo, Frostius, Naginator, karthik9, naruto no Juubi, fanficreader71, ddcj1990, ruhiko, aishiteru naru, OoOXylionOoO, OSR fanatic, Dark Ripper77, Crypton89, Blacksword Zero, IAmAFreakingNinja, Soulhope The Wolf. Thanks for the kind words.

Azurealkaze: bit of a mention of that here, it has been something I've considered before. And for the record that swords ability is actually really useful if you think about it, a sword that will never need to be fixed, not matter how many times it breaks.

Tristan76: I went back and fixed that up a bit, science isn't really my thing, but Naruto's abilities aren't exactly the same as the Sandaime, he can use the techniques but the style is closer to Gaara than the Sandaime and Yondaime. Yes Naruto is weaker, considering that the Sandaime was a Kage and Naruto at this point is just a strong Genin/Chunin. Pairing will be Temari, Pakkura I don't know enough although she will have a very very minor role at some point.

Otaku24: at this point I'll go with, the bloodline hasn't developed enough yet, although much like Cannon this Naruto is a bit of a show off so that played a part too.

Kagami Kamiya: pretty sure I replied using Pm when it was actually working if not let me know.

Ruckyree Dun Goof'd: The chap was written before that, but it has been changed.

TheDemonKingNaruto: this chapter addresses some of that I think.

SuperSaiyan9: again elements of the chapter address that here. And why would Tsunade care? From what I remember of Cannon, Minato and therefore Kushina only really had anything to do with Jiraiya. That said I haven't yet worked out what to do with her.

Orchamus: There will be variations as suggested here.

T00STr00nG: that would be telling, hopefully it will be as interesting as I see it to be anyway.

MadDogMatt13 Thanks, I thought about it, but there wil be some departures from cannon so the preliminaries are kind of important.

Shindaiyo: think I fixed that up more of an oversight on my part than anything.

Mtziggorot: remains to be seen the whole killing people thing, although I have yet to make my mind up.

ShadowStorm666: covered here

Cho Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: that was the intention lol

Harem Lover 72: same as above

Karibanu: addressed here. Although Minato's plans will become more evident over time.

**Let the Games Begin!**

Kushina Namikaze nee Uzumaki fingered the photograph of her son, her fingers ghosting over the aged photo. It was nearly seven years old, taken only slightly before he had vanished. It was a terrible photo for all that it represented, showing a young boy with nothing but hate and anger in his eyes. It broke her heart to think that she had been responsible for causing that, not for the same reasons that the rest of the village had, but for different ones, not that they were anymore justified.

It had been so hard in the beginning, she had struggled to find acceptance and her own place in the Shinobi corps and despite the fact that she was a Jinchūriki her inability to mould chakra normally had meant that much of her development had been stunted. As a result by the time her children had been born she had been a Chunin for nearly nine years. It was galling to think that she didn't and likely never would have the skills to merit a promotion to Jonin and the fact that much of the community saw her as nothing more than the yellow flashes lover made her blood boil. Being the Jinchūriki had given her an identity outside of that, even if she and the beast had never gotten on, She knew that her predecessor Mito had had something resembling a civil relationship with it, but from day one it had hated her and she was only too happy to return the feelings.

When Naruto was chosen to bear the title, despite not having the burden she had resented him. The fact that he had taken all that set her apart from every other Kunoichi who failed to make it past Chunin had made her want to hurt him. The fact that as he grew older and she realised that in his own way he was cleverer than both his parents only added to it. She didn't know how he'd match up to Minato in straight smarts, but she knew for a fact that Naruto had a far greater understanding of humanity that Minato ever would, which was in its own way a greater intelligence than any other. Minato thought that people would be willing to sacrifice themselves for his dream, and he had only been too willing to offer their son up for that same dream. She doubted the fact that Naruto would hate and resent them because of it had ever crossed his mind and when it did he lashed out against the boy, cutting him off almost entirely from their family. She hadn't done anything at the time, she was willing to admit that she drew some savage satisfaction from watching the boy who had stolen what made her unique suffer.

She wasn't sure when she had changed her opinion, maybe it had been the day she told him he didn't deserve friends and she saw for a brief instance the hurt that flashed in his eyes before he hid it again. But after that she had done her best to shield him, not from the realities of life, Mitsuko was lost to her by that point, but for Naruto she would ensure that he knew life's cruel realities just as she had. Then he had vanished. She knew in her heart that he wasn't dead and depending on circumstances she suspected that he had probably joined another village. She even wondered if he was here for the Chunin exams, coming back and showing them how he had flourished despite them was something that she would have done in his situation, and she liked to think that Naruto's mind flowed in a similar manner to hers, especially considering what he had done while he was in the village. The fact that he had driven Minato and Hiruzen apart to the point they didn't speak was proof of that. Sarutobi wouldn't have been friendly in any case but Naruto had ensured that there would never be reconciliation between the God of Shinobi and his successor. In his own way he had weakened the leaf just as badly as the Uchiha massacre had, another instance of Minato eliminating people because they were in opposition to his dream.

She let out a ragged sigh, it was pointless to dwell on the past but she couldn't help it, the last male Uzumaki was gone and she wouldn't blame him if he had dropped his clan name, hell she expected he had, what had the Uzumaki ever done for him? She wondered how her daughter was doing, it had been three days since the exams began and she knew for a fact that her team hadn't made it yet, not that she expected them to, Sasuke was the only one with real skill and the boy wouldn't be able to carry them through by himself, that was asking too much of an already broken child. Suna was rumored to have two very effective teams entered, she suspected that their Jinchūriki was present too, she had lost most of her Kyuubi given abilities but she did pick up on the slight hints in the air that there was another Biju or a host foreign to Konoha. She didn't plan to tell Minato that though, despite the fact that she wasn't one anymore, she would protect her unknown sibling, she owed both them and her lost son that much at least.

She stood up and gathered some bags; she might as well go and buy the groceries, that was about all she could do these days anyway. She would go and look at the finalists with Minato when the second stage finished, it was always interesting to see who made it and what the other villages were showcasing. Hopefully Mitsuko wouldn't die, her refusal to use anything but the Kyuubi chakra and the fact that she had yet to actually gain access to it meant that she was a liability to the village being the Hokage's daughter with no ability to protect herself. Kushina was too much of a realist these days to deny the fact that her arrogant daughter ran the risk of being taken hostage or even killed. And the thought of losing her last child froze her blood. She would check up when the second phase ended, if only to make sure that her last child wasn't gone from her too. She never wanted to be the last Uzumaki again, but it was a fate that was starting to look increasingly likely.

XXX

Naruto browsed the scroll absently; he had to admit it was a stroke of luck that there was a scroll library at the tower. It was something that Suna would never do, allowing foreigners access to information, but then again he was profiting from it so he wasn't complaining. Truthfully the plan to unleash Shukaku, in all its insanity scared the shit out of him, he wasn't strong enough to handle Shukaku, he struggled enough when Gaara went into his basic transformations. So it was that he was here reading all the scrolls that he could on sealing techniques. He thought that this had a lot of potential and would be easier to get the hang of than the final technique that the Third had theorised was possible but had never gotten round to working out. That was at least two years off being developed, but Naruto felt that it was possible and he would achieve it, if only to honor the man who had given him an identity beyond the outcast son of the Hokage. But for now he was content to try and develop a couple of Sealing jutsu's using his sand as a medium, it offered far more potential that the traditional ink did in any case. And the blood that would be needed wasn't even an issue, he could pull iron from people's blood well enough, it was too much effort if they were still alive, but he had no problem using corpses to feed his power.

He looked up from the notes that were covered in his own messy handwriting, he had been taught to write fast not neatly and if there were only about five people who could read his writing what did it matter? He smiled when he caught the eye of the Inuzuka, Kiba he had learnt the kids name was, the three of them were absolutely petrified of both himself and Gaara, he actually suspected that they were more nervous around him, a mistake at the end of the day. While he could decimate this village, it was Gaara who if he really put his mind to it who could unleash a beast that would be only too willing to bury all of Konoha under the desert.

He continued to look about; there weren't that many teams that had made it at this point, just Gaara and himself, Kiba's team and a team from Kiri, notable only for the fact that they were all Kenjutsu users. He guessed that they would be swordsmen trainees, preparing for the day when Kiri actually got their famous weapons back. He thought he would be able to have a bit of fun with them when the time came. He felt Kurama laughing within the confines of his mind, his partner did so enjoy watching Shinobi being made to look like fools. Then again Naruto probably would have similar thoughts if he spent most of his existence trying to escape being captured by beings that were the equivalent of ants to the Biju. He'd do something about them tomorrow. He returned to his notes and began to sketch some of the designs that he thought they would work best with. It was a shame that Chiryo refused to see anyone in the village, the old hag was the only one in Suna with any real experience with seals, even if she was hopeless at them, Gaara's seal being an example of that little fact. In an ideal world he would have been able to get into his parents' house, Minato had raided the ruins of Whirlpool not long ago and Naruto knew that those documents were what would turn these techniques into something truly amazing. Maybe he could get one of the snakes flunkies to do it, they were willing enough to do anything that would lead to the destruction of the village, even the ones that were a part of it. It was truly bizarre, he had more reason than anyone to burn the place down and all he really wanted was to have as little to do with the place as possible.

He shuddered when he felt a pair of hands cover his eyes. Instantly the sand around him condensed into a singular tail. Its jagged tip about to spear his attacker until he heard her voice.

"Guess who?"

"Damn it Temari, I could have killed you there." Naruto responded angrily, prying her hands which were curiously smooth and rough at the same time from his face before rounding to face her, "What the hell?"

"Jeez calm the farm," Was the blonde haired girls reply, "You wouldn't hurt little old me would you?" She asked in what Naruto could safely say was a very cute voice, one that he was until now sure that she was incapable of using.

"What took you so long?" Naruto asked, avoiding the question, truthfully he would never hurt the girl, shit he was willing to die to protect her, a fact that Kurama did not like at all, Still he wasn't about to tell her that, she would probably think that he was saying she was weak and end up braining him with that fan of hers.

Temari didn't miss the change of subject but she had a fair idea of what it meant, Gaara responded the same way usually. It was strange to think that the two of them found admitting they cared for others to be some kind of weakness. Still she knew they cared and that was all she needed to know and wanted, '_at least for now' _she thought as she slyly ogled Naruto, he wasn't particularly tall, but he still cut a fine specimen, even if he could grow additional iron appendages when he felt threatened.

"We got dumped in the middle of nowhere and it took us two days to find a team with the right fucking scroll." She replied angrily, the heat in her words not surprising Naruto too much, she did hate losing, and it had been a competition albeit a nonverbal one to try and beat the others to the tower.

"Where's Kankuro?" Naruto asked, his studies momentarily forgotten on the slate grey flagstones beside him.

"Cleaning Karasu." Was the simple statement that held a much deeper meaning for them than anyone else in the immediate area would have had from hearing those simple words. Naruto's face briefly twisted into one of distaste, a feat mirrored by Temari.

"It was messy then?" He asked, already knowing the answer on some level but at the same time seeking some kind of confirmation.

"Oh boy was it what," Temari shot back, her eyes misting over slightly as the memories of the past two days passed through her mind. "There were about three teams that were really insistent."

Naruto simply grunted in response and gathered his notes up before the wind could blow them away, out of the corner of his eye he caught Temari eying them critically.

"Fuinjutsu?" She asked, the curiosity in her voice so obvious that it seemed like he could taste it on the air.

"it'll help for dealing with **him** when the time comes." Naruto replied, putting more stress on the word than the others, Temari immediately grasped what he was saying and she nodded her head in agreement.

"It will help." she added quietly, silently mourning the fate that had landed two of the people closest to her in the positions that they found themselves in. Fate may have been inescapable but it was a cruel mistress all the same.

"Come on, I'll show you where our rooms are, the one next to us is free, we uh made something of an impression on one of the Konoha teams." Naruto said as he led the girl towards the accommodation section of the tower.

XXX

Minato frowned as he read the reports about the second stage of the exams, the fact that Orochimaru was present in the forest was a cause for concern as well as the fact that he was seemingly after the last 'loyal' Uchiha. He hadn't wanted to have them taken out but the fact that the Uchiha were threatening his rule meant that they had to be eliminated, he was only thankful that Itachi, a child he was willing to admit might have one day been able to challenge him had he not been forced into the life of a missing nin, was willing to do it. They needed the Sharingan and the opportunity to build it up without the corrupting influence of the past was too much of a good thing to pass up.

Still Sasuke seemed to have been corrupted all the same, much like his missing, presumed dead son. He should have packed them both off to Danzo the first chance he got. Truthfully his refusal to let the son become a nin hadn't been intended to do more than motivate the boy into trying. He had gone to a lot of effort to turn Naruto into what he had been and it pissed him off to think that his creation, who would in its own way be stronger than his daughter ever would be, had vanished before he could harness the child. Still no sense mourning the past, despite the fuck ups that had occurred over the last couple of years, not that they had been all bad, the Hyuga twins had always mocked him as a child and the fact that Hizashi was now dead went some way to making him feel better, he was alive and his childhood bully was dead who was the best now huh? He shook his head to banish the thoughts, that was the past now and he had to deal with the present, Jiraiya would be coming soon and be able to teach Mitsuko the skills necessary for her to change the world, something that would ensure that he, Minato Namikaze, once some no name orphan would go down in history as the father of the girl who changed the world, it was the next best thing after all.

There was the issue with the man in the orange mask to deal with as well, it didn't seem possible that the man was Madara, but then again stranger things had happened. The best that could be hoped now was to deal with the present, find out why the chakra in Mitsuko's body wasn't working the way it should and then proceed to change the world and bring peace like the Toad Sage wanted. The chakra was a major issue and Minato really had no idea what the issue was, in theory he had split the chakra from the will so it should work without Mitsuko having to fight the beast itself. The fact that this didn't seem to be the case both confused and angered him. Still these exams would allow him to see exactly how much power the other villages had and hopefully Mitsuko would be put in a position that would force the Chakra to reveal it to protect the host. He growled, the seals had been perfect, he had developed them specifically to create a perfect Jinchūriki and yet it didn't seem to be the case. Still none of that mattered; the problem at the moment was dealing with his onetime rival for the Kage position. He was better than Orochimaru and Hiruzen had known it, the fact that the snake was such a sore loser just went to show that he was a spoilt child and he, Minato was a better Shinobi and person.

XXX

It was getting hard to see where he ended and Kurama began, and he couldn't help but wonder what would ultimately happen. Naruto thoughts reverberated in his head as he eyed his targets. The Kiri nin, weren't particularly important in the grand scheme of things, but a war with them wasn't what Suna needed after this particular instance of idiocy on Naruto's Kage's part. He eyed them critically. They weren't anything special, their faces held a few battle scars that clashed with their close set eyes and raven coloured hair. He wondered if they were related considering that their only differences seemed to be size, but gave up in the end, it didn't matter. His hand closed around the magnets in his hands, he rarely used them, but they were useful in certain situations like this. His cerulean eyes glanced up at them again, they weren't looking at him, hell they were looking at the Hyuga girl in fact, likely sprouting that bloodline nonsense that Kiri seemed to be so keen on. His grin turned savage, '_idiots' _he voiced in his head and was rewarded with the Biju or rather his other half's laughter again. He liked Kurama's presence in him, it was like he was never alone, it was a feeling he knew that on some level Gaara appreciated as well, even if his passenger was completely insane. Once again his sand spilled out and condensed around the magnets, quickly forming three replicas of the original blades. With a gesture they drifted out, quickly moving to the pile where the Kiri nin's blades lay. Soon they were replaced, the originals sealed away in a scroll Naruto had on him. He could and would sell them for a profit; swords were popular in Suna not as much as fans but the wind element did make Kenjutsu a popular choice for many. A quick pulse of chakra into the magnets ensured that they would keep working until the magnets were broken or the swords came into contact with a solid object, it should prove to be interesting in any case. Naruto allowed a final smirk to come to his face before he turned around to head back to his room.

XXX

Kurama the former Biju and now the what? Truthfully he wasn't sure, he had bound himself so tightly to the psych of Naruto that they were actually closer to reflections of each other than anything else. Still it wasn't all bad; Naruto had always treated him with respect, an alien experience to the being and was even wont on occasion to let him out to 'play'. He was loathe to admit it but he actually considered the blonde a friend, another alien concept to the being. It didn't even consider its fellows friends after all. Still it had slowly been picking up different aspects of humanity through their shared link, just as Naruto had come to behave and think in a way that was akin to the Biju itself. Their deal made so long ago had created a true pseudo-Jinchūriki, far superior to those flesh bags it had vomited back up all those years back. There were few who would be able to match them when they were fully matured, among humans in any case with the exception of the true Jinchūriki. But Kurama had no interest in the cages of its kin. It was mortal now, but this was better than the alternative of being trapped in the child's body as he was slowly driven insane from the chakra present in the body's chakra system before dying painfully.

It wasn't pleased to be back in the village that had caged him, even less so than Naruto but it did prove to be entertaining, something that it had found to be its primary motivation in almost everything it did. Odds were Naruto would let him come out anyway. Naruto had some basic close range abilities but much like Shukaku's brat ultimately he relied on Kurama to deal with the one's he couldn't deal with at range. They made a powerful duo if Kurama did say himself, in many ways they were the dream of any Jinchūriki, two beings working as one to crush any who opposed them. He grinned again, his ghostly form still present in the black void that had replaced the sewer that had once existed, although he now only possessed one tail, notable in that it was the only solid thing in its body, And of course it was forged from the Iron shards that now served as a manifestation of what had once been a true child of the Sage. Uchiha and Senju were tainted by the fact that they were born by a woman, but Kurama was a true child, carried by the Sage until that great man's death and then thrust into the world to live as he wished. Something that had persisted until Madara had come. It hated humans in general, but it was nice to think that it had known the only two worth knowing as intimately as he did. It made the suffering that he had been put through bearable, if only slightly.

XXX

Naruto eyed the people he would be fighting with critically. Kurama recognised most of the children here, or rather their clans for the most part. And he felt that there was little to pose a threat to them or his siblings. He was surprised that Mitsuko had made it, although both she and Pinkie seemed strangely subdued, not to mention Pinkie's hair had been cut short. Not that it mattered, ultimately they were all less than he was. He returned his attention to his father, who was giving some pathetic speech about what a Chunin needed. Everyone needed to display the traits he was talking about irrelevant of rank. Idiots soon died after all in the world that they lived in.

He caught Minato's eye and almost burst out laughing when he saw the man's eyes widen fractionally. He grinned so widely that it threatened to split his face open, not to mention that it displayed his sharpened canine fangs to the man, giving him a far more savage and bestial appearance. "Hello daddy." He mouthed, his grin turning to a smirk when a grimace came over the older man's face. The man returned to ignoring him and went back to his speech, Naruto ignored his words, choosing instead to look around and see who he recognised in the stands, the Sandaime wasn't present which made him grin, he liked the Old man and he hoped that he avoided the exams, he didn't want him to see what was going to happen. Kushina was here however, although she was staring at the ground and failed to meet Naruto's eyes.

He realised that he had missed the rest of the speech and the Proctor talking about the rules when the man asked if anyone wanted to quit. He was slightly surprised that Kabuto was volunteering, but then again the spy would have duties that would prevent his involvement in this part of the plan, no doubt it was for the best. Pinkie wanted the Uchiha to quit too, but he was refusing, Naruto's near constant grin returned, Kakashi may have warned him not to underestimate the boy but as the saying went, pride comes before the fall. It was something that they all suffered from. Gaara less so than Temari, Kankuro and himself but it was still there. Still he recognised his weakness and did his best to combat it, something he doubted that Sasuke did. He was somewhat surprised that his sister seemed to know Kabuto, but then again the Hokage's daughter would be the perfect person for someone like him to befriend. The comments about what could only be a cursed seal were interesting, he had seen the snake eying him before and he had been offered a curse seal at one point. He had refused naturally, you didn't allow things to be sealed onto you unless you knew exactly what they did and Orochimaru was not known for his Fuinjutsu skills. Still Pinkies concern for 'Sasuke-kun' was amusing.

"I just want to fight strong people." The statement echoed out across the near silent courtyard and Naruto cast a glance and Gaara, who was smirking. Well the Uchiha certainly would be getting his wish; they weren't the coddled children he was used to by any means.

"We have twenty four contestants and we need to cut it down significantly." This came from the Proctor and Naruto nodded his head, he drowned the rest out, choosing instead to look at Temari's arse. Before he headed to watch Sasuke fight Kabuto's team mate.

XXX

That first fight hadn't held much interest to Naruto, the ability to drain chakra was interesting, but ultimately it turned into a glorified Taijutsu battle, something that he wouldn't be able to gain much from. Although he had to applaud Sasuke for managing to give so little away, however unintentional that was.

Shino against the sound Nin wasn't anything amazing either really. He recognised that the bug nin could pose a threat to him, but that was something that he would need to address when the time came. The sound nin was fodder in any case not worth his time.

"Finally." Naruto glanced up and nodded his head in Kankuro's direction. He wouldn't take it seriously Naruto knew, however dumb it was, still Kankuro was another person who had the word prodigy thrown about all the time, he'd do fine Naruto was sure. A statement that was proven correct when Kankuro true to form became the first person to kill their opponent.

"Well none of this has lived up to the hype has it?" Naruto said as the middle brother re-joined them, Baki's grunt being the only response he was rewarded with. He snorted and turned to watch Pinkie and Ino Yamanaka proceed to have a fight that seemed more suited for the soap operas on TV with its rivalry over the Uchiha and the comments about their old friendship.

He could feel Temari getting angrier and angrier by his side and he hid a smile.

"Disappointed you didn't get to fight her?" Naruto asked, noting that Gaara was listening, Kankuro was still too caught up in his fight to pay attention however and Baki was doing… something the man had always seemed a bit odd if you asked him, not that he could talk, he had basically given himself a split personality disorder after all.

"Yes." She huffed, then turned to look at him critically. "You're finding this funny aren't you?"

"It's hilarious, two fan girls fighting each other, neither of which seem to know anything beyond the most basic techniques, why would you want to fight them, it'll be far more satisfying to annihilate the winner later." She didn't reply but studied him, her eyes boring into his.

"Humph." She made a curious snorting sound and turned back to the fight, Naruto aping her, chuckling softly.

The fight was pathetic, there was really nothing to redeem it in Naruto's eyes, and it ultimately finished in a draw, which was quite frankly the most interesting thing to happen all day.

"Man there are a bunch of weirdo's here." He turned and studied Mitsuko as she stared at Gaara, an action that a few years ago would have ended her. Naruto chose to simply watch her, she had no idea, not to mention that she was just as much a weirdo as the rest of them.

"Ohh I'm up, I'm up!" She suddenly exclaimed and began to clamber down to the arena, an action copied by Kiba who was acting in much the same way. A smirk flashed across his features as they took their positions. '_Things were starting to get interesting finally."_He thought, as he shifted his position to a more comfortable one to watch the upcoming fight.

* * *

**A.N I thought I'd take an opportunity to talk a bit about Minato and Kushina who while they don't play an essential part in the story yet and I have yet to decide if they ever will, they are important in the fics history/back story if you will.**

**Kushina was the previous Jinchūriki but considering that no one seemed to recognise the name Uzumaki I doubt she was particularly highly ranked. The Chunin thing I'm not sure about but I got the impression that her typical nin skills weren't anything special due to her 'special chakra'. So hence here, she has essentially had the very thing that made her 'special' taken from her and reduced to a glorified trophy wife, which would i think make anyone bitter  
**

**Minato on the other hand is an exceptionally skilled nin and I have some ideas that I want to implement about what makes him so impressive. That said, I think that his portrayal here has elements of cannon in it. Minato wouldn't have been a nice man I don't think anyone can be a Shinobi and be a nice person, Cannon Naruto excluded. Even Jiraiya once you get past the idiocy comes across as a very complex character, and one that will have killed hundreds for the village. Minato will play a more important role further into this arc, but for now I hope that I've given enough info to explain some of his actions. **

**Anyway the next update will happen eventually; at the moment real life is taking precedence to just about everything. I also have some other stories that I want to do, so we'll have to see where I end up. **


End file.
